Yes, that was the program. It was so sad. I know those people don't want to live that way. It must be an addiction or medical problem of some sort. It is hard not to judge, because we are conditioned as a society to think negatively about overweight people. Still, nobody would choose to live like that if they had a choice. I hope they are successful in overcoming their weight problem. We all have our crosses to bear.

overeating often times is an addiction just like drugs or alcohol is in addiction. There are AA based groups for it and everything. Many people do not eat because they want to, but because they use food or their weight as a way to hide or ignore their problems. Its not like that for everyone perhaps, but I think most of us have SOME sort of emotional relationship with food.

I think that understanding the real reasons why many people are overweight, and even understanding why we eat ourselves (overweight or not) can go a long way towards understanding and helping our patients when the time comes.

It may sound far fetched, but don't we see sugary foods as "treats"? What if someone felt they had no joy in other areas of their life, or wanted a quick pick me up after a rough morning? The taste and the sugar high from a "sweet treat" would be just the thing, right? The problem, as I see it, is when people don't diversify their relief strategies. After a long week, some pizza and a few beers sounds great to relax and unwind. But if i had that every time I had a bad day, I'd be an overweight alcoholic. What about holidays? we associate turkey with Thanksgiving, which we may associate with family and fond memories, or Christmas with cookies (for santa). So if you eat something similar during the year, or if you even smell gingerbread for instance, you're automatically brought back to that time. I think people get in a rut of starting to rely on food for those memories and good feelings and forget about all the other ways that they can feel good, like exercise/sports/hobbies/etc and where one day it was "just a sweet treat" suddenly it becomes a daily part of life, and maybe eventually becomes a replacement for healthier foods. They don't call them "comfort foods" for nothing.

I put on so much weight during my final project. I used to eat microwave popcorn by the bag, and chew fruit gums until i got a headache. Worse than that I used to bake as a way of ditraction...leaving me with brownies and cupcakes galore! Now I normally snack on dry cereal now and raisens. And LOTS of cups of tea.

Jul 22, '08

Everyone in my program last semester used to tease me about my caffeine problem. I would start the day with 3 cups, get a drink from starbucks on my way to campus, get another cup or two on campus, and then switch to green tea to finish out the day.

I only have coffee in the morning during the summer though....

Jul 22, '08

haha ErinJane, you sound just like me. I'm often tempted to just chew on a tea bag on shift....

Jul 22, '08

As a former caffeine addict I just want to say be careful. My body violently revolted because of my caffeine consumption being so over the top. A 2 liter of diet mt dew was the absolute norm for me and then all of a sudden I got so violently ill every time I had even a sip that I spent half the day practically, doubled over in pain.